Happy to get back to lower altitudes with less wind cold and clouds compared to PART 1 I continue wandering around the mountain of Parnitha in much friendlier conditions. Starting from the mountain's tree nursery I get a weird feeling watching the new ones starting their life where the bodies of the ones who died from a vast wildfire back in 2007 still lie around:
Lovely nature's art on this wall:
Time to move on and it only takes a few meters to make me stop again at the view of this:
What once used to be an attractive hotel named "ΚΥΚΛΑΜΙΝΑ" (which means cyclamens in Greek) is today a mess like the above. Before I step into it have a look on how it used to be like at the following frame taken from a 1957 B&W Greek movie:
Now that you have something to compare let's see how it is today. I repeatedly said in PART 1 that nature tends to fill the gaps people leave behind and in this case the tree has occupied the stairway:
I decide to climb this short wall instead:
As I make my first steps upstairs the first thing that catches my eye is this:
The whole building is in terrible condition and the next image deletes any doubts about that:
Makes such an intense contrast with the view that still remains more or less the same:
The poor building has reasons to be in this terrible state today as it was first hit by a strong local earthquake in 1999 and the huge wildfire of 2007 put an end to its grace that the few attempts of graffiti cannot change:
To be honest I expected a larger fireplace there than this one:
That's the least of problems when a building has an interior like this:
Here's a video as I walk inside this thing:
As I feel like I am about to finish it I take a walk around the ground floor only to see that the hotel has an unexpected guest:
Yay! A deer! I try to approach it as gently as possible and have a closer look:
As I make a couple more steps it turns to look at me while I see the rest of the herd on my right:
What a sweet dear deer!:
The rest ones are not as tame. I manage some distant shots (most are cropped) before they run away despite me being gentler than gentle:
I think you'd like to watch a video from this meet up:
Funny to hear my excited voice on this one though it's all Greek to you I guess 🙂
I leave all those dear deer behind and move West to my next "target" but I make a short stop halfway to check out a local cave. Turns out that's all one can see from it in the absence of proper equipment (and company):
You have to slide yourself into that hole and then follow a steep path that leads you down to its room, obviously with a help of some rope, something I am not intended to do right now. Instead, I enjoy the view which is much more user friendly and probably more attractive, at least as long as you can ignore that car's bumper bottom right:
Happy to see the weather getting better I arrive at my next point of interest.
From far it barely looks like an attraction:
However, there's more to this than a first sight sees. It's actually a visual art park made by a forestry employee out of burnt trees from the 2007 wildfire, dedicated to the souls who lost their battle with death at the nearby (now abandoned) sanatorium (more on that later).
Let's have a look on what is called "The park of souls":
I won't be impressed if you're still not impressed about it cause the weather (and I sense some vandalism) has taken their toll over the years with several pieces missing today. At the same time it has a sentimental value that made it impossible to skip. Here's a video in case you're still curious:
So what about that abandoned sanatorium? Let's have a first look:
What you see on the left is a 1914 building (finished in 1916) built in order to host patients suffering from tuberculosis. Back in the day Athens was really suffering from that and among the people who were nursed there was one of the most famous Greek poets Yannis Ritsos. When decades later penicillin put an end to this nightmare sanatorium faced a decline and in 1965 it was turned to a hotel until it was shut down 20 years later. After the earthquake of 1999 the building was characterised as too dangerous to visit though hasn't been brought down yet. On the right you can see another building probably part of the sanatorium complex but more on that later.
The warning signs around the building try to convince visitors to stay away:
The truth is that if an earthquake occurs and you are close enough to it or even worse inside then you have good chances to not be able to share your experience later. I take a walk around it struggling to capture some elements in their entirety as the building is very long:
I won't repeat myself about nature and gaps but the way new fir trees pop out around this ruin puts a smile on my face:
This shed looks anything but attractive,
but I am intrigued to have a closer look at this weird ceiling:
That looks like upside down ceramic flower pots. Probably an add on during its hotel years cause it's hard for me to imagine that one could have such an idea for a sanatorium but in the beginning of the previous century.
This nearby stone spring has no running water unfortunately:
Such a weird view to see the trees hugging the carcass of this building:
Humour is a virtue isn't it?:
Ugly and bare all the way:
Years ago for safety reasons they built the entrance to prevent people from entering only to give more real estate for spray can holders:
So ugly and bare:
I'm leaving it behind to visit the secondary building that lies a few meters away pretty much in the same condition:
What this building sees on its west is the mess of its big brother:
Which is no different from its own:
Time to step in. First eye catchers are these:
A couple of steps later I find a fireplace:
The view to the East from one of its openings shows that there's still clouds stuck around the area I explore in PART 1:
The following one is among the best graffiti I find around, considering that the artist (?) has decided to go the hard way and include the door in his piece:
Look like no wall has been left untouched in there:
Next room gave me some of the most weird moments. Here's what once used to be a bathroom:
Notice that window top right? See how nature decorated it:
Now see the window's view:
Here's how it looks from the outside:
Nature and gaps - I've commented on this relation many times already. Can add bits of heaven to this kind of humane hell:
The graffiti I find outside on this building's exterior look more artistic:
Wanna watch a video as I walk this thing? There you go:
After such a long day full of beauty and ugliness I leave this all behind and take the (not so short) way back home. As I drive down the mountain I make several stops to counterweight the horror of the ruins I visited before:
Hope you managed to follow all the way and wish you found it exciting as I did through all the good the bad and the ugly.